Naruto, the Reborn
by Tokikohime
Summary: In the fight with Orochimaru during the second exam, Naruto makes a desperate, last ditch attempt at survival, reaching for a power deep within him that not even he knew about. This power brings about the winds of change, and riding upon them is a reborn Naruto. Not good pairings, so the closest thing to that is the Naruto/Kin thing here. Powerful Naruto. MA Rating, like my others.
1. Chapter 1

Naruto had led a hard life. He hadn't had a great childhood, being ignored largely by the entirety of the village, and had been somewhat abused when he wasn't. He hadn't been trained well, irregardless of his prodigal growth when he was trained.

Now, now he was gonna die. In the chunin exams, failing his team. All because Orochimaru was willing to take him seriously. All because of his burden. The Kyuubi. All because he wasn't strong enough to push past his burden. As the Kusanagi pierced his heart, and the life fled from his body, he felt something. Something deep within, far past the Kyuubi. It felt like power, like life. It felt strong, as if nothing could defeat it. Figuring it couldn't be worse than death, he reached for it, and pulled on it. He was flooded with a sense of power, a sense of self and purpose he had never known.

In the back of his head, he heard a voice whisper. '_The Mirror of Idelis_'. He felt power flow through his veins, and slowly opened his eyes. He stood slowly, not noticing that his very veins were glowing a bright gold. Looking to Orochimaru, whom had moved away from Naruto after running his sword through him, he noticed the sannin freeze for the briefest of seconds. He couldn't see it, but his eyes glowed a bright gold. Suddenly, he simply knew. He knew what Orochimaru planned, what he could do, and how to do it himself.

He knew how to utterly destroy Orochimaru. He knew what Orochimaru dreamed of, desired above all else. He knew who, and what, Orochimaru was, on a fundamental level. He smirked. He knew himself as well. As Orochimaru flew toward him, ready to pierce him again, he moved. He appeared before Orochimaru in flash of gold, fist extended into Orochimaru's gut. To his eyes, Orochimaru had been moving at a snails pace.

Orochimaru was sent flying, crashing through several trees. He moved back quickly, recovering form the staggering blow with ease. Before entering the clearing however, he made several clones. He let them distract the suddenly dangerous blond, and placed his curse seal on Sasuke. The clones didn't last a second, but it was more than enough for the sannin to make his escape. Sasuke was left on the ground in sheer agony, only awakening long enough to scream when the curse mark was placed on him.

Naruto noted that he had escaped with ease. Analyzing the mark on Sasuke, he noted how the seal was made. That was certainly what the mark was, a seal. He noted that it seemed to be made of darker form of the energy that was ambient across the world, what Orochimaru had come to know as Sage Chakra. He also noted the Soul of Orochimaru in it, corrupting Sasuke slowly. That was easy enough to note when the memories of Orochimaru were present in the seal.

Naruto noted how to make the seal for later uses, without a soul fragment within it. He eased Sasuke's Pain by flaring his chakra through him, causing the nature energy of the seal to latch onto his chakra instead. He used his chakra to carry it back into the seal, locking it away in the seal. He also noted cursory thoughts within Sasuke's mind. Instinct caused him to note that his chakra seemed to have taken a portion of Sasuke's, and broken it down.

Naruto somehow knew he had developed a Sharingan, but did not how or why. He would study it later, and instead took both unconscious team mates and moved to a hidden alcove. The alcove was little more than a hollowed out tree. He placed Sakura higher up than Sasuke, more near the center of the tree. There was more privacy there. Sasuke was left on the bottom of the tree, with Naruto. He watched his surroundings closely.

After several hours, he noted the three shadows within the trees. He decided to wait on them. After a while, one of them walked out, a cocky smirk on his face. It did not take his mind reading abilities to know that this person thought himself greater than he actually was. He quickly brushed the minds of the others within the trees. He noted the male seemed to be older, more experienced. He also seemed gruffer, and had rather dark plans in mind for his female team mate. Looking quickly at his memories, he learned of the abuse they had inflicted upon her. Browsing her mind revealed that the abuse had indeed happened. It also revealed that she would be capable of redemption, and would likely be grateful for the opportunity to leave oto.

Naruto briefly recalled a law that would be useful later. A law that would allow him leeway to act, without the council or the Hokage being able to interfere. He also noted that since his awakening, he was a lot more alert of others. He could see them better, see what they hid and what they kept locked away behind focused gestures.

"Give us Sasuke Uchiha and we'll spare your lives!" Yelled the cocky one. Naruto had almost forgotten about him. He quickly browsed his mind as well, noting that he had also inflicted abuse on his female team mate and wanted to kill Sasuke solely because he thought he could. Naruto decided the end that line of thought then and there, via punching his head off.

While the result was gruesome, and bloody, he knew he had made his point. This instant death had caused his two team mates to come out of hiding. Both, were trembling in fear. The bandaged one decided to cut his losses.

"We'll give you our scroll if you spare us!" Naruto signaled him to hand the scroll to Kin, and had her walk over to him with it. This had two points, it moved Kin away from Dosu, and moved her closer to him.

"I'll be keeping your team mate as a spoil of war, feel free to leave." This made Kin lock up in shock, and fear. It also made Dosu leave. "Don't worry. The title is merely for show, and to keep annoying pests of our back. It gets you out of Oto, and away from your abusive team mates. I scanned your minds, learning of the intentions, and recent memories, of all of you. You won't have to worry about that from me." As Kin calmed down, slowly, she kept a wary eye on Naruto. "I'll be putting the necessary seal on you later, so get some rest for now." As she started moving to the tree to obey however, Sasuke intercepted her. He was covered in flame like markings. He moved to punch her, but found his fist caught in Naruto's palm instead. The glare he was receiving unnerved him a little.

"Attack my property Uchiha, and it will mean a blood war between the Uzumaki clan and the Uchiha clan." This though, made Sasuke truly freeze. Having come from a clan, Sasuke knew exactly what a blood war meant. It meant that neither clan would stop until the other was wiped out. While Sasuke doubted Naruto could take him, he didn't know what other Uzumaki were left alive. He didn't know their strengths, but knew that even if he killed Naruto here, the rest of the clan, no matter where they were, would know of the feud. He also had a small notion in his mind that Itachi may not be leave him alive if he found out that Sasuke had started one. He knew that even though Itachi was an exile of Konoha, by clan law, he was still clan head.

He also knew of what the Uzumaki clan had been, and was terrified to bring even a fraction of that power down upon him. He decided, wisely, to back down. He stepped away from Naruto, giving him a nod to show that he had indeed backed down, before heading back into the tree to get some rest. He found that the seal Orochimaru had placed on him hurt when used, and seemed to resist going back. He could tell that Naruto's chakra was at play, countering it's resistance and nullifying some of the pain. As he lied down to sleep, he noted that Kin was cuddled up next to Naruto as he also fell asleep. He had a coming realization that soon, things would change. His team mate, already had. And he knew, deep down, that his brother within Naruto would indeed live up to his name sake. A maelstrom was coming. He could only wonder how much would change.

**And thus Ends the first Chapter of Naruto, the Reborn. In time, I will explain how Naruto came to be such a powerhouse, and what exactly happened. And yes, Naruto is indeed a powerhouse. By no means is he invincible, no one is, but he will be very hard for anyone to defeat. One last note for this chapter, the author named Chilord gets credit for the 'spoil of war' around kin, as I had gotten the idea from reading his story NBH. I highly recommend the story, and will be adding it to my favorites soon enough so people can find it. **


	2. Chapter 2

The sun shined high in Konoha, and many were happy. To the civilians, this just meant a good day for business and work. To the children, this meant plenty of time to play outside. To the shinobi, this meant a lack of natural shade to hide in, leaving them to have to look with less scrutiny to see anything that shouldn't belong.

To Sasuke however, this meant it was time to get up, and get moving. Today was the last day of the second exam, and they had to make it to the tower. He had woken up Naruto already, and Kin awoke with him. Now, he had to wake up Sakura. He managed to leap up to where she was, and quickly set down a log to switch with. Preparing the substitution before he approached her, he smirked to himself. He was ready. Moving toward her, he moved his hand to shake her awake.

Only, instead of touching her shoulder, his hand found itself on her breast due to her last second shifting. This, of course, woke her up. Instead of righteous female fury however, she was looking at him with lust. He quickly activated the jutsu he had readied, switching with the log just in time to avoid being hugged to death by the horny and rabid fan girl. He quickly leapt back down to Naruto and Kin, the somewhat awake Sakura following.

Upon landing, Sakura noticed Kin. She immediately determined that Kin was an enemy, and moved to kill her. Before she could even draw her kunai, she found Naruto blocking her path. This confused her.

"Get out of the way Naruto-baka! That's an enemy!"

"She's my spoil. Attack her, and I will attack you in turn." Sakura of course, knew what a spoil was. A Spoil of War. A slave. She immediately jumped tot he wrong conclusion, not considering that Naruto had never acted in that way to any female.

"PERVERT!" And so she lunged at Naruto, kunai in hand. She was rewarded with her wrist being knocked aside, and her kunai being sent flying far away. The next thing she knew, she was on the other side of the tree, embedded into the wall. Naruto standing with his palm held out was the last thing she saw before she blacked out.

Naruto made a clone, and had it pick up Sakura and carry her. He, Sasuke, and Kin then left the tree, making their way to the tower. Naruto had taken the liberty of showing Sasuke that he had the other scroll needed, and the trip was quiet for a while.

"What did you do to the seal that Orochimaru put on my neck?" Sasuke asked, rather out of the blue.

"I filled it with my chakra, effectively applying oil to the chakra in the seal. Think of the chakra from the seal as water, and my chakra as oil. The water comes flowing out, but can't reach your chakra due to the oil blocking it. Essentially, my chakra is serving as a highly mobile wall against the chakra in the seal. I'm not sure how long it will last, but it should reduce the pain and give you a chance at survival." Needless to say, Sasuke was impressed. He understood the basic gist of what Naruto was saying, and so did Kin. Kin knew quite well of the curse seal, it being used often in Oto.

"Thank you Naruto. I know I haven't exactly been the best friend to you, and your generosity wasn't warranted." Surprisingly, Sasuke managed a rather humble tone.

"I'm sure it wasn't, but I saw no reason to leave you to die. Especially when the villagers would blame me for it. Eventually though, you may need to go to Orochimaru for training. In which case, you'll have to find a way to let the chakra past my chakra to make it seem as if no one interfered with it."

"I'll look into it, just in case. If I didn't know better, I'd say you're planning something."

"I am. Soon enough, I intend to leave Konoha. I see no reason to remain in the village, serving as the weapon they don't want but are to greedy to let go."

"I see." And Sasuke really did. Unlike many of his peers, he had noticed how lonely and hated Naruto was. He had seen the glares and heard the whispered words. He'd even heard the rumors of the beat downs that Naruto had gotten. Many in Konoha considered it a good day to be living whenever Naruto was beaten down. Some civilians had even asked Sasuke to kill Naruto, believing only an Uchiha could kill a demon.

He even knew a little about what Naruto held within him, though he kept it hidden. Unlike his late father however, he had never once believed that Naruto was a true idiot. He had only insulted him constantly as his way of trying to push Naruto to grow stronger, to push past what Konoha had done to him. It hadn't seemed to be working.

Eventually, they made it to the tower. Sakura had awoken sometime ago, quite angry at Naruto. She was left bound and tied, unable to do anything, after trying to put a knife in his back. Naruto doubted that she would face any charges, and he somehow knew not allowing her to even attempt to kill him would get him into trouble. But he wasn't concerned.

They had passed the small test involving opening the scrolls with ease, and met Iruka, who guided them to their rooms and wished them luck in the rest of the exams. He told them where to go the next day, and left them to their devices. Naruto immediately left with Kin, wanting to go and place the seal on her that was required by law, and wanting to know what all she could do.

He knew his mind was free, unchained. The seals Sarutobi Hiruzen had placed on him years ago, at his birth, were finally broken. He had figured out what had allowed him this level of freedom, this level of release. And he knew what it had truly broken through. Hiruzen Sarutobi was not the only person to place seals on him, and he knew it. He could not tell who it was, but he knew it to be a powerful entity. A god, more than likely.

A possible candidate was the shinigami. He had direct access to Naruto at his birth, and had been required to place a seal on him already. He could have easily slipped in a few more. He also knew that the shinigami was well aware of who he truly was, and what he was truly capable of. It was entirely likely that he had decided to seal Naruto's full power as a means of stopping him from doing to much harm while he was here. This entire thought process was countered by the fact that the shinigami was likely to enjoy the benefits of Naruto being at full power, as it would mean many more souls for him.

Another candidate was Kami herself. She was known to disagree with anything her Fallen Son did, including anything done for the benefit of a world. She was also known to seal demons, or those under her Fallen Son's command, away. It was likely that she sealed him simply because she could, and she believed it weakened her Fallen Son. She was wrong, and Naruto doubted she didn't know that. It was also likely that she knew full well that her son held no interest in this world. Naruto's presence here may even draw her to it, simply to see why he was here and what exactly was going on. She's been known to order angels to help demons in these situations before.

There were a few other possible choices, but none stood out. Susanoo was a choice, but unlikely. He didn't like messing with mortals, he was rather content with where he was. Naruto had decided to wait though. It was the only real option he had. Eventually, the one who sealed him would show his face. Or, some semblance of it.

He knew that the chakra burst he had performed in the forest had been massive. Far bigger than it should have been. He suspected that either Kami, or her Fallen Son had something to do with it. But, he was grateful for it. His full power was his to command. He could now read the minds of others, even to the point of forcing images into said minds. He could even scan their memories, allowing him to grab useful information from them. He couldn't take over their bodies, but he didn't really want to. It left his own highly vulnerable.

He had a few other surprises hidden away, such as his apparent ability to replicate bloodlines. He was grateful that what he had gained from Sasuke was not actually the Sharingan, but rather a different form of it. Instead of the usual black and red, his was red and white. He also didn't seem to have any lines connecting his tomoe shaped pupils.

He had learned that these new eyes of his did not allow him to predict movement in anyway. Rather, they gave him a tool to focus his abilities and chakra far more easily. It wasn't quite as good as the Sharingan, but in some ways, it was even better.

Kin had been nice as well. She had some skills, but she wasn't above genin level. She had potential, though a good deal of it had been stamped out by Orochimaru and his lackeys. He had learned that she had a friend within the sound, a Tayuya. He would be working to find a way to get to her as well, if only to give her a better life. He worked with her after placing the seal, being sure to work on her physical condition over anything else.

**And here ends chapter two. There will be more explained later on as I think it up. **Enjoy the story!


	3. Chapter 3

The day of the preliminaries had arrived, and many were eager to begin. Some were simply bloodthirsty, and knew that fighting was ahead. Others were simply eager to finish the exam, and be done with it. But everyone agreed on one thing. Soon, the real fun would begin.

The Sandaime was proud to see Sasuke make it to the exam. He was also glad that his weapon had done the same. He was a little perturbed to see that Naruto was not his usual cheerful, idiotic self, but he knew that Naruto was still under his control. The seal he had placed on Naruto was still there, and Naruto didn't seem to hold any anger toward him. He supposed that Naruto's personality had simply changed, but the seal on him kept him loyal to Konoha even with the drastic change.

He gave his speech without paying any attention to it. He was to busy thinking of all the ways the genin down below that weren't from Konoha could die. He would be rather happy if Suna's jinchuuriki met a humiliating end soon. He could then take the Ichibi for himself. Perhaps even seal it into himself. He had the perfect seal in mind for it. One that would allow him to take from it its power, but seal away its mind completely.

As the first match was prepared, he imagined himself getting to wield the sand release. He was sure all forms of it came from the Ichibi. He could take them all and rip it's knowledge of them away from it, gaining himself the ability to use them better than any Kazekage ever could. However, he was broken from his day dreaming by the announcement of who the fighters were.

He watched this match closely, as did many from Konoha. Sasuke Uchiha was the great god, after all. Though, the Sandaime only wanted to make sure his growth went to plan. After all, it would be pointless for Sasuke to gain the Eternal Mangekyo by killing Itachi, only to be weak himself. Hiruzen fully intended to have those eyes at maximum power when he plucked them from the Uchiha's skull. Of course, he would give Sasuke all the power he needed to insure that he killed Itachi and took his eyes. After all, Hiruzen simply couldn't have something that wasn't the best it could be. He knew that the Sharingan could evolve all the way to the Eternal Stage, he'd seen it on Madara for proof. He knew full well the kind of power that was, and he knew he had to have it.

He was quite happy to see Sasuke win his match against some guy that had the ability to absorb chakra. The Sandaime was sad that the genin Sasuke had fought had only that ability, but he noted to have some of his more secretive ANBU grab the boys blood later. He'd toss that into his little seal as well. He made another note to promote Sasuke to chunin after the exams. He could tell from this alone, the boy had the power for the rank.

He watched as the next fighters, Shino Aburame and a nameless sound nin that had come to the exams alone, and had been allowed to play through, walked to the ring. He had already identified the winner. He knew the Aburame would win, though he rather wished they didn't. The Aburame clan disgusted him. He viewed their power as stolen. They took their power from their bugs, working with them to spy, poison, and steal.

The clan also disgusted him due to the fact they allowed the bugs to live within them. This reminded him greatly of a jinchuuriki, when he thought about it. But, he knew he could do little to them right now. Maybe when his power was complete, and he ruled the world, he could exterminate the Aburame clan.

He was proven right minutes later. The sound nin had used some form of sound cannon on his right arm to attack, and the Aburame had clogged it up. When the sound nin had tried to continue firing, despite this, it blew up. The shrapnel pierced his brain, killing him instantly. Shino was declared the winner, and the next match called. One between nin that did not interest him. He already knew quite well of the puppet technique, and could use it if he tried. The leaf nin he didn't recognize didn't interest him either. The match, thankfully, passed quickly.

Many were uneasy at how easily Kankuro had killed his opponent, and most of them were leaf nin. They had just watched a comrade die. Naruto though, had his respect rise. He knew full well what the life of a shinobi entailed. He was also interested in the technique the sand genin had used, and studied it closely while he could. He could see the chakra strings controlling the puppet, but only just barely. He assumed it took a great deal of chakra control to do, so he made a note to try it later. Such a technique was useful to any nin, not just puppeteers. Who knew, maybe he'd make a few puppets of his own down the line, and use them for entertainment. It'd be good for training others, if he did it right.

He was disheartened in his comrades though. He saw many of them cringing at how the leaf genin had died. He knew it wasn't really a reaction to the method through which he died, but rather, a reaction to the fact that the guy had died at all. No doubt, many of them would be moping about it for a few days.

As the next match was called, one between Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka, Naruto felt something within his mind shift. He took a quick look with his mind's eye, and saw it was a door that he had not noticed before. His personality was apparently free. He delved into his mind as the match began, and slowly absorbed what his personality really was. He noted that his true personality was somewhat like his old mask, but more serious and dangerous.

Where as his mask had been go lucky and happy with a mix of idiocy, his real personality was more along the lines of a happy and confident one. He knew that he rather liked his personality. He didn't have to hide. He knew what he was, what he truly was. He decided it was time to visit the Kyuubi.

As he finished the finishing touches on his mind, he felt power flow through him, truly flow through him. It wasn't like earlier, where his power came through in a flood and left him feeling powerful and strong. It felt more like his power was simply there, energizing his body and giving him life. He knew now, he was truly back. He felt the seal the Sandaime put on him warp and twist. No longer was it a mind control seal. No longer could it alter his mind. Instead, it caught any attempt to do either of those things. It prevented his mind from being tampered with, all while appearing as if it was doing it's original function.

As he appeared before the cage of the Kyuubi, he couldn't stop the smirk that appeared on his face. He knew just how much he outclassed Kyuubi now, and he had no reason to fear the fox. No, he respected the fox instead.

"Hello, Kyuubi. I can safely say that it is nice to meet you." This, would be an interesting meeting.

**Wellp, onto the next chapter for me then. Hope you all are enjoying the story. I'm trying to keep a period of 24 hours between each update, to make it so I can make any changes to previous chapters that may end up being needed. That, and I'm still trying to figure out how I want my other book to turn out. Not much luck there though. Evidently, I suck at planning stories. Adding a flashback here for the thing with Kin, explaining how she came to be so calm about the ordeal.**

Kin was not happy. This very terrifying man had come and killed her team mate, before taking her as a slave and sending the other one running with his tail tucked between his legs. She knew her team mates were powerful, stronger than her at least. That meant this man that had enslaved her was far more powerful than her.

His team mates were already asleep, and he seemed to be. This was her chance to escape, so she tried getting up carefully. She had acted to play along before, but was not yet comfortable with the ordeal. She was glad she could think at all with how much shock she was suffering from when her team mate died.

She thought she had moved carefully, but that was apparently not the correct assumption. He had grabbed her arm and opened his eyes. He was glancing around, causing her to freeze up. Was he going to hurt her? Finally, he focused on her, and spoke calmly and quietly.

"If you want to leave, then by all means, do so. I've already taken care of your abusers. If you wish to hide under my wing, then you may do that as well. Irregardless of what others are told, you are not my slave."

"And how can I trust your word? How do I know you'll actually let me go?" He had already released her arm, but she wanted to be sure he wasn't going to follow her. She wanted to be sure that when she left, this ordeal would be over. Something told her though, that it was safer with him.

"My only intention was to get rid of your team mates, and give you a better chance at life. You didn't have that with them, due to their abuse of you. My intention is not to use you or control you."

"So what, your some kind of hero coming to the rescue of a damsel in distress?" She sneered at this thought. Her tone was almost spiteful.

"No. I am a shinobi, not a hero. I merely saw a situation where I could help and did what I could. It isn't up to me whether you'll stay safe. That's entirely up to you."

She pondered on this for a bit, wanting to be sure of herself. Some little voice in her head was telling her to stay with him, as it would be safer and it was obvious he had a lot of power. But, she wasn't sure she wanted too. What if he decided that she really was a slave?

"You won't abuse me yourself?"

"I have no reason to. I saved you from that situation, tossing you back into it would be counter productive." She could see his logic. Kin was hesitant, but she ultimately decided to try and see how this would go. She knew she was taking a risk, but decided it was easier to try this and escape later if things went south. Making her decision, she cuddled back into him, sapping warmth from his body. If she was going to be his slave to everyone else, she would reap benefits from it.

**There, that ends that. Hopefully, it turned out how I want. Thinking is surprisingly difficult right now, darn migraines. Almost 2000 words for the entire chapter too... darn, so close. **


	4. Chapter 4

The Kyuubi was many things, and easily surprised was not among them. For the child he had been watching for years to suddenly do just that left a bad taste in his mouth. He had, of course, noticed the change that occurred in the forest. He just assumed it was small and left it at that.

Being a construct made entirely of energy, he had the ability to see energy itself. He could tell what something was from this sight alone. However, he had never seen anything like Naruto. When he looked at the boy, he saw the energies of the world all amassing in a giant puzzle not yet solved. It was as if the world itself did not know who or what Naruto was. This surprised him. And worried him. He had never seen anyone like this, not even his father.

This made him cautious. He had no idea what this being could do, and no idea what rules applied to him. The Kyuubi had no idea whether or not this being was a threat, and decided to err on the side of caution. He wouldn't normally do this as his pride in his own power tended to override his sense of self-preservation. However, he found his instincts for survival screaming at him to simply remain calm and cautious. This being, was not something to challenge.

"Hello, Kyuubi. I can safely say it is nice to meet you." His voice was calm, far to calm. Normally, a being facing something as large as him would be instinctively afraid, and that subtle fear would leak slightly into their voice, no matter what they did to prevent it. None of that fear was there.

"**Ningen. What reason could you have for coming to see little old me?**"

"Little? Surely you jest! You are hardly little. A being with your level of power never is." His voice seemed jovial, happy even. But it held something deep within it. The Kyuubi's eyes narrowed and his tails twitched in anticipation.

"**I would assume that a human would think itself above me, given that one was able to seal me away.**"

"I do not think like a normal human, and you will learn that in time. Of that, I am sure. I do not view you as my equal, nor do I view myself as your superior. We each possess our own strengths and weaknesses. Neither one of us is stronger than the other." This made the Kyuubi stop for only a split second. He had heard those words before. From another. From his father. And from a monk that was in the village his father died in. That monk had been off too, though not to this severity. What was happening here? And that voice, there was something there, but what? The Kyuubi could not place it! And this irritated him.

"**Wise words, for a mere brat. What makes you think them true?**"

"I do not need to think them true to believe them. I know them deep within my soul for what they are." There it was, pronounced loudly. None of the teasing or joking was in the boy's voice now. No, now there was nothing but that thing that the Kyuubi could not previously place. Danger. Threat. His instincts screamed at him that this man was dangerous, and that he should not anger him. He decided to simply end this quickly. He doubted killing the boy would work, which left the Kyuubi with only one option.

"**What do you want?**"

"That is not the question I am here to answer. I am here to see what it is that you want, and what you are willing to pay for it." Of course it wasn't going to be simple. Of course the boy wasn't going to make this easy.

"**There is nothing that I want that you could possibly give me.**"

"Nothing? You seem so sure of yourself. In time then, you will see the power I now wield. Your father had but a fraction of the power, and only a tiny shard of that as knowledge. Had he been immortal, he would have truly reached his prime sometime around now. Perhaps, if that route had been taken, you would understand better. For now though, simply sit back and watch. You will come to understand only when you are ready to do so." And he left, vanishing as if he had never been there to begin with. Within a blink of an eye. The Kyuubi gave a small grunt and went back to sleep. Even in sleep though, the great fox was unable to escape seeing reality from the boy's eyes. What the fox saw, the fox could barely comprehend.

Outside though, in reality, the next match was just being called. Tenten and Temari, two kunoichi. Both serious ones too, this would prove interesting. As he watched them arrive in the arena, he noticed something strange. Where as before, he would see like everyone else, now he could simply see more. He could see the chakra both girls held, the affinities they wielded and how they wielded them. His mind told him he could see more, if he merely wished too. He chose not too.

As the match began, he was amazed to note that he could see how each girl was moving, and what they were doing to move that way. He was mesmerized as he watched the two kunoichi fight. They moved with some form of grace, though something within him told him that they were still rather ungraceful. They had much yet to learn. But he could also see what Temari was doing, and he knew that would win her the battle.

Tenten was a weapon mistress. She used her weapons by simply flinging them at her opponent. But when none of those weapons could land a hit, she was left vulnerable. At the end of the fight, Naruto was confused. Why did she not simply pick up one of her heavier weapons and use it in melee? It was obvious that Temari was a ranged fighter, and that ranged attacks would prove ineffective against her.

He chose to simply press on however. He hoped that her crushing and brutal defeat her would teach her to use more than one style of combat. He saw the next match, and admitted he was interested in seeing how well Kin would fare. He somehow knew she would not win this fight, but wanted her to try anyway. He wanted her to try and fight, and learn. Experience was the only thing that would teach her well.

Kin being placed against Shikamaru proved to be a good test for her. When her bell genjutsu failed to work, she stepped back and thought her plan out. She knew this guy was smart, he had rather dumbly pointed that out. She also knew he used Shadows, being from the Nara clan. Orochimaru had informed all of sound about Konoha and what it had available to it in terms of clans. She eyed the shadows carefully as he tried to snare her in them. When she noticed he was concentrating a little to much on them, with his eyes closed no less, she took a chance. A simply shuriken to the arm solved the problem of his shadows, at least, momentarily. Momentarily was all she needed as she charged at him for taijutsu, knocking him down and out with a rather vicious punch to the skull. Somehow, she had come out the victor. Naruto could not be prouder, and he made that clear to his spoil when she rejoined him on the balcony.

**Waffles. That is all.**

**Nevermind, no it isn't. Crap, lost what I was gonna say... oh yeah! So, I was dragging this update out, mostly cause I completely forgot I was writing it to begin with. I caught a cold too, and that didn't help my sense of time. I did remember I was writing it, but I forgot that I hadn't worked on the chapter five minutes ago, like my brain kept telling me. **

**I still have the cold, and it's likely to be around for another couple days. I can tell cause I'm sleeping a lot more. And when I sleep for 24 hours straight, then I know the cold is losing fast. Now, if only I didn't wake up so sore. **

**Believe it or not, I have no idea what I'm doing with this story right now, so updates are on pause until I can figure that out. The story isn't dropped, I just need to remember what the fuck I was doing. I ad a huge idea for this too, which is the entire reason I started writing it to begin with. So, give me a week or so. Once I get this cold over and done with, I can start writing again. Who knows, maybe I'll also finally put in the time to learn java so that way I can stop saying it was programmed by an idiot. Have a good day all!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Before we begin, I do have a reply to a guest review that I got, In reference to the remarks about the Kazekage and how their 'sand release' worked and the lack of any actual sand release in the naruto verse. The Sandaime Hokage already knows how the sand release of the Kazekage work, at least to some degree. What he wants however isn't the magnet release, it's the sand release given by the Shukaku to it's containers. By placing the Shukaku within the seal he has in mind, he could rip that ability from the Shukaku, while also gaining any other abilities it could grant. He would also gain the ability to use it's chakra, though I personally doubt the seal could filter it correctly with everything else it's doing. **

**With that out of the way, onto the story. Thank you for those who have taken the time to review, and know that I always try to read any new reviews I receive. They make me remember I'm writing to begin with!**

And just like that, the seventh round of the chunin exams had begun. Naruto Uzumaki versus Kiba Inuzuka. Many thought that Kiba had already won, and instantly tuned the fight out. Well, most from Konoha. The Foreign ninja took one look at each combatant and drew NAruto as the winner just from his posture. Unlike Kiba, he wasn't eager. He was studying his opponent and holding himself ready for anything.

This made the Sandaime curious. He studied Naruto carefully, looking for anything that would tip him off to whatever had happened to the boy. Something was definitely off about the boy, but the Sandaime just could not put his finger on it.

'_Maybe the boy finally grew up some? Could he finally be ready to be a true weapon for the village? Maybe it's time to give him to Danzo.'_ He gave no indication of his thought, and only signaled to the proctor to begin the match.

"Don't worry dobe! We'll win this in one hit!" Kiba boasted, fully believing he was right and there was nothing that could be done by Naruto to defeat him. He was already planning how to get Hinata to notice him, not truly paying attention to the fight, or his technique. He launched into his gatsuga immediately, flying straight toward Naruto. He tore right through him, and broke the technique once he had passed through. Once the smoke created from the collision cleared, he noticed that he had only hit Akamaru, his pet canine. This angered him. How dare the dobe switch with his partner?! Didn't the blonde realize he was only cannon fodder? He refocused on the fight, only to realize that he could not find Naruto. He looked around furiously turning left and right, but never looking behind him.

"You're slow. I always imagined you were faster. You'll have to train more, before you can match my might." This voice rang out across the arena from behind him, making Kiba freeze. He didn't have time to contemplate on why this was a bad idea, as he was given a harsh reminder and sent flying across the field via a powerful kick to the back. He impacted with the wall, falling unconscious on impact. This led to the referee looking to Hokage, as if asking permission to grant the victory to Naruto. Few noticed the subtle nod from the old man. Many noticed the proctor calling the match however.

"Victor! Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto had already returned to the balcony, standing by his spoil. The Sandaime had watched him closely, and noticed who he was standing by. He had received Notice that Naruto had taken her as a Spoil of War, and thought that he might be able to play it to his advantage. He could easily convince the girl that she could not be his spoil without first giving up information. Disposing of her if she did not cooperate was of little issue. He wouldn't kill her however, as she may prove useful later on. The boy obviously liked the girl somewhat, that sense of attachment could be used to control her later.

While the Sandaime was busy eyeing up Kin, Naruto was busy pilfering his surface thoughts. What he found didn't please him, but he knew who the enemy was now. He managed to sneak a peak at the man's more recent plans, such as going to the bathroom after this entire event and burning the paperwork on his desk before blaming some monkey. And, of course, his plan to have Jiraiya 'train' him, before having said sannin force him to access the Kyuubi's chakra. He quickly reviewed what he knew of Konoha's laws, which was pretty much all of them, and made a plan to escape the sannin and the Sandaime at the same time. One that also protected his spoil.

The next match had begun while the Sandaime was busy eyeing up Naruto's spoil, Kin. This caught him somewhat off guard, as he had been rather lost to the little fantasies running through his head. Focusing back in to the match, he watched as Hinata was systematically destroyed by Neji.

'_What a poor excuse for a Kunoichi. I wonder what Hiashi is doing to rectify this.'_

She was quickly beaten, and Neji was held back by most of the jounin when he tried to kill her off. No one noticed that Naruto's eyes were narrowed at Neji, as if in hatred. Naruto had already read Neji's surface thoughts, and could already see from those how his personality was. He knew Neji was irredeemable, and would not waste time killing the boy off. He would have to research how the boy fought, and that meant researching the Jyuuken. He already knew that the Hyuuga clan did not allow for their members to ever practice any art other than the Jyuuken. This made them predictable. That made them weak.

The next match, the ninth match, proved interesting, as Lee was placed against Gaara of the Sand. Naruto was interested in this exam solely to see how unstable his fellow jinchuuriki was. The match proved to be informative, and made Naruto ponder on the strength of the seal Gaara had. He was also disturbed by how quickly the match turned sour for lee, but made sure to note it down. Lee had dropped his guard, believing his final technique was enough, and Gaara took advantage of that. Lee was now barred from being a shinobi until his limbs healed, and even then, he would have to be careful. This would be a heavy blow for the exuberant ninja.

The next match almost didn't happen, as Choji really didn't want to fight at all, making the Sandaime narrow his eyes at the boy. After being promised food if he won, Choji was all for battling anything. This annoyed the Sandaime further.

'_Having to bribe the cowardly little brat with food to make him fight? He should be grateful he's fighting at all with how fat he is! I still fail to see why the Akimichi clan is as powerful as they are!' _

The fight however, ended quickly, and not in Konoha's favor. The Sandaime made a mental note to fine the Akimichi clan for making Konoha look bad, and another note to have Hiashi train his daughter more seriously. These weaklings, in his mind, could not be permitted to remain as such. They would have to be trained harshly in punishment for their poor displays today.

After this entire event, the remaining genin were called down to the arena to pick numbers from a box. Naruto noted he was against Neji first, and smirked in anticipation. No one noticed this smirk, nor did anyone notice him fading from the room after everyone was dismissed. He made a quick note to the hokage and left it in his office, before taking Kin and leaving. He would train for the month outside the village, using the laws of the village itself to his advantage. He sent a note to the councils as well, making sure one ended up in Danzo's hands.

While Danzo had never been on his side, he knew Danzo respected the laws of the village well enough to help Naruto here. He also knew Danzo would take advantage of those laws if they were breached by the Sandaime. That is exactly what Naruto was counting on. He made sure to avoid being spotted on his way out. Sadly, he was still stopped by a ROOT ANBU, whom handed him a scroll before moving aside and fading into the shadows, returning to wherever he came from. Naruto moved into the trees before reading the note, taking Kin with him.

"_If you are reading this note, then I thank you for the information you have provided to me. It warms my heart to see that our jinchuuriki is capable of self thought. I have provided two scrolls with some basic training supplies, and another containing an elemental ninjutsu for each element. Don't mistake this for kindness or charity on my part, I expect you to pay it back in full by serving Konoha until you die. I can provide a powerful ally Uzumaki, do not cross me. Burn this note after reading it please._" Naruto could only whistle in surprise. Unsealing the scrolls from the note and burning it up by funneling a small portion of Kyuubi's chakra into it, he signaled to Kin that it was time to move on.

And so Naruto and Kin slipped away from the Sandaime's control, for now. He was rather angry that it had happened, but he let it slide. He was given little choice, as he knew Danzo was waiting in the Shadows to remove him if he slipped up, and he wouldn't let that happen. Not for the first time, he pondered assassinating Danzo, but stopped his thoughts by remembering how difficult the bastard was to pin down. The man had a knack for survival, much like a cockroach. He would let the boy think he had won for now. Control would be his again. His dark smirk was missed by all, as no one was within his office.

**ANNNNDDDD DONE! Cause why not. One of my reviewers also pointed out that I was dragging this out, and I admit he... or she... was right. I didn't really know where I was going with this, but remembered as I was writing it out. Ima write an overview for this, so I dun forget again. I know I will. But that way I can read shit and remember! Like Sticky notes, only not! Yeah... I need coffee...**

**Read and review, if you so desire!(Or dare :D)** oh hey, coffee! I found some! I fixed it! Fuck, it's empty..

Oh yes, let make this clear now. This story will have a rather anti-climatic ending. Consider yourself warned!


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto and Kin had had a rather eventful month. Naruto knew that Danzo had kept the status quo in Konoha, and he also knew that the defenses of the village had been subtly fortified. He walked through the village, with kin at his side, calmly. Nobody really looked his way, mistaking him for just another citizen. That would, of course, be due to the henge he wore. Even the shinobi were avoiding paying him any direct attention. They moved to the stadium, having only an hour before everything began. He had to be present, or he risked being disqualified.

During the Month, Naruto had gained a better understanding of his power, and learned more about his psionic abilities. He'd learned this his psionic techniques were solely of the mind, and they took no energy to perform. However, they could only affect the mind itself. If he wanted to make his thoughts reality, such as summoning fire with a mere thought, it took energy. The larger and more complex the thing he wanted to summon, the more energy it took. Fire was the simplest, being the least complex thing that he could ever possibly summon, as it was already energy. Through a few cruel tests on some bandits that would no longer be terrorizing people, he had learned that the fire, when summoned, would also burn the mind. So far, fire was the best thing he could summon. He could do water as well, but it proved unstable, and quick to explode... violently.

As for his chakra itself, he found he could will it to do anything, provided he understood how what he was doing worked and occurred. For example, if he wanted to form a sword, he had to understand how the chakra was meant to form the metal of the blade, and how the metal would react in numerous cases. A smith had helped him learn this, though Naruto had focused on Obsidian, due to it's dark color and ability to shine when hit by light correctly. It took most of the month, but he was finally able to learn how to form numerous weapons out obsidian. Sadly, it also took a good chunk of chakra, though he could do it fairly easily.

He hadn't had the time to study much more than that, as he had focused on helping Kin train her body up as well. He found, rather quickly, that he liked Kin. She was fairly easy going normally, though she could be pushy or submissive whenever she wanted. It was a little creepy to him, but he learned to enjoy her company.

Kin had learned quite a bit about chakra control, being trained to see it how Naruto himself saw it. Rather, as an extension of oneself, instead of as a wild, untamable energy kept within her. Her control had skyrocketed, and she quickly learned to shape it into some of the more basic jutsu she knew. That being the bunshin and the kawarimi. She knew the henge, but her chakra tended to resist it a little, so she avoided learning it. While the bunshin jutsu wasn't the best, she made it useful. She could summon as many bunshin as Naruto could summon Kage Bunshin, losing about the same amount of energy doing so too. She had also learned to switch with them using the kawarimi, finding that it was easier to switch with them than it was to switch with anything. She had also learned, through those bandits mentioned earlier, to switch with other people. She quite liked doing this, to cause confusion and despair among multiple enemies. It helped that she could switch with a bunshin, then switch the enemy as well. Lead to many enemies being placed in traps... or compromising positions.

Both Kin and Naruto had learned that they didn't really seem to have any chakra affinity to the elements. Danzo had provided chakra cards with the jutsu scrolls, as well as instructions on how to use them and what to expect from them. All the cards had done was become super charged with chakra and grew in size a bit. That didn't interfere with their learning of the jutsu in the scrolls however. They didn't learn them all, but learned what they could. Kin had learned the Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu, as well as the Suiton: Kirigakure no jutsu and Raiton: Ranshinsho. Overall, she chose to be the stealth specialist of their duo, wanting to ambush unwary or distracted enemies and either quickly finish them off, or mess with them enough to give Naruto a clear shot.

Naruto had chosen to learn the Suiton technique Kin learned, as well as Katon: Hibashiri and Futon: Kaze no Yaiba. Naruto had also learned that he now passively enhanced his body with chakra. He had not, however, learned anything of the jyuuken like he had intended to. He decided he would move to the stadium a little more quickly though. The faster he could beat Neji down, the happier he'd be. He felt saddened by the realization that Neji was indeed irredeemable. But, he would not back down himself.

Entering the stadium was only somewhat difficult, as the chunin tried blocking access saying 'demons were not permitted'. That was easily fixed by outright ignoring the chunin. Naruto had come to realize that his power had hastened and greatly improved his mind, setting it where he needed to be. Or at least, where he felt more comfortable with who he was. That permanent sense of inner peace certainly helped keep him calm.

He stood with the other genin. He had already told Kin not to hold back anymore than needed. He was not concerned if she killed any of his fellow leaf nin right now, as this was an exam and death was expected, even if it came from the same side. He was however, concerned that some in Konoha would try to kill her simply to get back at him for whatever slight they wanted to imagine.

"Stand tall, you're all representing your villages here. You are the stars here." Naruto barely managed to repress a snort at that. While what Genma said was true, he didn't say it because it was. He said it to boost the egos of the genin here. Naruto idly wondered where the other proctor, the one that had been present for the preliminaries, was now.

"What happened to the other proctor Genma-san?" Naruto asked calmly, quickly brushing the man's mind to find out.

"He's currently unavailable. I'll be your proctor for this stage until he returns." So he was dead? A shame. Naruto simply nodded his head, having the information he wanted. He zoned out, waiting only Neji and he were left on the arena floor. He looked to the proctor, calmly signaling that he was ready to begin. Neji held a cocky smirk on his face, believing that he had already won due to the scores Naruto had in the academy.

"Give up dead last, fate has already decreed that I will win this match." His tone was even, and haughty. He saw no way he could lose this match.

"Fate has also decreed that you will forever be a genin, Hyuuga."

"Fate has decreed no such thing."

"Has it? Your judging me based on my scores from the academy. Is it so wrong then, to turn that ignorance against you? You didn't score as high as a jonin would have Neji. By your logic, that means you will forever remain a genin."

"I have grown stronger since then."

"Have you? Then show me, and we'll see who's gotten stronger." Neji only grit his teeth, confused and annoyed by the enigmatic genin before him. He took his stance, preparing for Naruto's attack, but Naruto simply remained standing where he was, glancing at Neji's mind to see his plans. Charging in would only result in him losing.

After waiting about five minutes, Neji got irritated. Why was the dead last not charging in? Didn't he know what he was supposed to do? Was he so dumb that he didn't understand he was meant to throw the match to Neji? Just as Neji was about to start yelling out, he saw Naruto start performing Hand signs, unknowing that Naruto was taking the technique from a jonin in the audience.

"Wind Style: Severe Wind Blade!" The wind quickly whipped up around Naruto, before lashing out as a giant blade at Neji. Neji had no time to adequately dodge, and got a serious slash mark on his chest. Neji only barely caught the look in Naruto's eyes. What he saw made him freeze in fear, as realization struck him. Naruto wasn't looking to let Neji leave. Naruto was looking to kill. The dead last of Konoha, the one no one believed in, was the most prepared to kill to get ahead in life.

He froze for only a moment, but it was enough for Naruto to perform a few more quick handseals, and launch another wind technique at him.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" The wind hit with enough force to send him flying into the wall on the other side of the stadium, leaving Neji to gain a massive concussion and a headache to go with it. The broken bones and fractured skull didn't help him any. Of course, Naruto wasn't done, and Neji wasn't lucid enough to react to the next fatal move.

"Wind Style: Deadly Wind Drill!" The wind itself formed a thousand blades into a deadly drill, rotating at speed high enough to create a shrill screeching noise. It was like a thousand angry tiny little birds, charging at Neji to bring instant death. The jonin proctor had no time to react, and Neji was pierced through the heart. The blow was fatal instantly, and Konoha lost a genin for it.

Hiashi was less than pleased, but he was also shocked. He had just lost his nephew to ninjutsu. To something the Hyuuga deemed below them. He was confused as to how something other than the jyuuken could kill someone from his family, but thinking on it allowed him to see how it was possible. Neji had no defense against such things, he had never used his kaiten.

The civilians were very uncomfortable with the result of the match. They had expected to see a loud, weak, and pathetic genin getting his butt kicked by a prodigy genin from one of the great clans. They had expected to see the demon of Konoha, the one they believed to be the Kyuubi itself, get beaten down. But it had not happened. They had forgotten that the Kyuubi was dangerous.

**I'm going to have to end this here. I've had this at this point for several days now, and I just noticed it was here. There are other things taking my attention now, such as learning java and how to mod minecraft, and they are taking up a large amount of my time that I would usually use for writing. I have no intention of stopping writing, but updates and the l;ikes may be slow for a while. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Before we begin, I would like to apologize for the long time between this update and the last. Multiple things happened that ultimately lead to me forgetting I was even writing something to begin with. Ever since I was a child, I have had both poor short term, and poor long term memory. I cannot recall my name on command, unless I have been saying it in my head within the past seven or so minutes. On top of that, my depression hit me hard, ruining my sleeping schedule and leaving me borderline suicidal. This, of course, left me with no will to even attempt something like writing, and compounded my normally low self-confidence. **

**I've done what I can to get past it, and it won't be a problem again for a while longer. This si something I am very much used to dealing with, and my experience allows me the advantage. I'll be writing again, though updates will likely be slow. At least, until I totally remember what I was planning with this story. All I have in relation to that is an image of the seal I wanted the sandaime to use. Luckily, memories like that tend to be highly detailed for me, so I can infer what I wanted the sandaime to be.**

**I will not say thing kind of thing will not happen again, I know it will. If it does happen again, I'll try and move past it quick to get back to writing. All I have left to fix is my sleeping schedule, which I'm contemplating leaving as is. My parents never need me for anything, and they have no plans regarding me. I have only one friend, and he knows I'm nocturnal by nature, so he doesn't care if I visit at night. And, of course, being up now leaves me with plenty of time for writing. Hmm... plan decided. Get coffee.**

The first match had been a shock, but the civilians got over that shock when they saw who was to fight in the second match. God was fighting, or as others knew him, Sasuke Uchiha. They waited, and waited. Five minutes passed with everyone eagerly looking down at the arena, as if their very gaze would summon the errant Uchiha.

Another ten minutes passed, with no sign of the Uchiha showing up. Gaara was calm, and seemingly had limitless patience. The Sandaime however, didn't. He was getting bored of sitting there, doing nothing. He stood calmly, gaining the attention of the audience with his mere presence.

"Sasuke Uchiha has until the end of the final match of the first round to show up. If he fails to do so, he will receive an automatic bye to a restricted chunin rank. The third round will begin now." This caused the proctor to stand up a little taller, before he called out the next two contestants.

"Will Shino Aburame and Kankuro Sabaku please come down to the arena?" Before Shino could even move though, Kankuro shouted out his forfeit, causing Shino to be the winner.

"Very well, Shino Aburame is the winner. Will the next contestants, Shikamaru Nara and Temari Sabaku, come down?" Shikamaru watched as Temari floated down on her fan, trying to decide on whether or not he wanted to do this. In the end, he figured to go for it, not wanting to try and face his parent's wrath if he dropped out now. After taking the long way down, further annoying his rather temperamental opponent, he stood calmly. He made sure his pose looked lax, calm, and serene.

When the proctor started the match, shikamaru burst into action, throwing a kunai and using his Shadow Possession Jutsu to follow it's shadow. Sadly, Temari leapt to the side a little, avoiding both the kunai, and the shadow. He was left with no time to branch his shadow out though, as Temari's leap to the side had been her swinging her mighty fan. The winds lashed out at him, sending him flying back as they lifted him from the ground. He quickly cancelled his shadow technique, needing to conserve his chakra. As he landed, he through another kunai, this one with a tag on the end. Temari assumed the tag to be explosive, and knocked the kunai of course using her winds.

Instead of a large explosion, there was a small boom as smoke exploded from the tag. The next thing Temari knew, she was being engaged in close combat as Shikamaru appeared from the smokescreen to her rear left. By now, the smoke had surrounded her completely, blocking the fight form the eyes of the audience. Temari was left in a dangerous situation, as her fan was to large to use in the close quarters combat she was now in. As Shikamaru sent her skidding back with a rather strong kick, she threw the kunai she had been grabbing out to buy herself some space. However, Shikamaru switched with it right as she threw it, causing it to miss and him to be right back into her space, pummeling on her again until a vicious blow to the head knocked her out. As the smokescreen cleared, the audience saw that Temari was laying on the ground, seemingly unconscious. The proctor checked her over, before calling the match and signaling the on stand-by medics to pick her up. The medics also checked over Shikamaru, but found no injury upon him, allowing him to return to the stands to watch the next match.

As Gaara appeared in the arena and Shikamaru moved to the stands, Sasuke and Kakashi were no where to be seen. The third hokage made himself comfortable, and many ninja dug in to wait out the chronically late jounin.

**Again, I apologize this took so long. A little lost on what to do with it. Next chapter may take just as long, so don't get to excited. I'll work on it, but I'm not making any promises.**


	8. Chapter 8

-**WEEE BOLD TEXT! Disclaimer: I'm to lazy to own Naruto, and far to broke. Even if I wasn't broke, I wouldn't own it anyway. I'd be to busy using my money to cause world terror. Naruto, and it's entire franchise and whatnot, belongs to kishimoto. Except this story. This story is mine. Mine. My shiny. Anyway, onto the battles and whatnot! Before I get distracted by my tails... again. -_-**

It had taken an hour or so, but Sasuke and Kakashi finally appeared via shunshin to the middle of the arena. Of course, if they had expected to be cheered for, they were mistaken. Many of the civilians were annoyed at having to wait, and most of the daimyo were to busy talking to Naruto when the two entered to even bother showing them a shred of attention.

Of course, neither Sasuke nor Kakashi noticed this. They were to absorbed within themselves and how awesome their entrance had to have been to notice someone as far below them as the daimyo. After a minute of basking in the imagined glory, Kakashi moved to the stands, and Sasuke stood prouder before Gaara, sure of his victory.

Upon Kakashi leaving the arena, the proctor teleported in from his break, starting the match quickly before moving off to the side, well out of the way of the sand. Gaara had been kind enough to inform the proctor of his sand's range during the wait, to insure he didn't get caught in the middle. After all, he could kill the proctor later, but he would want to focus all his power on Sasuke to kill him now.

The match began with Gaara sending sand forward, covertly keeping some around him to have it rise up as a shield. Sasuke leaped over the sand wave sent at him, before landing and dashing straight at Gaara, a smirk on his face. He reading a punch to Gaara's face, but was blocked by a wall of sand. His smirk fell away as he leaped back to avoid the quick retaliation of the sand.

"I order you to stop using sand!" Shouted Sasuke, using his most serious expression and tone of voice. He fully expected that Gaara would obey. After all, Sasuke was a Uchiha. A god. When the sand impacted his chin, Sasuke was understandably shocked. In the stands, so were Kakashi and Sakura. Ino just shook her head. The sand followed up by grabbing Sasuke's ankles, and twirling him around like a little doll. Sasuke met the wall face to stone soon after. Needless to say, he wasn't having a fun time.

While Sasuke was getting his butt kicked, Naruto was speaking calmly to the daimyo about resurrecting the Uzumaki clan in full. He was making deals with each daimyo, everything kept small. Kin was, of course, privy to the conversation. Being his Spoil of War, he kept her near at all times. He had found Kin had a unique perspective, and had good advice when asked for it.

"So, Naruto-san, when do you intend to reclaim Uzu no Kuni?" asked the Fire Daimyo. He was simple and plain man, though his eyes held a deviousness to them. Overall, he looked easily forgettable.

"Uzu no Kuni? You mean my clan had a country all it's own?" Naruto's confusion was evident on his face, even without him asking.

"But of course they did child!" Boomed the Earth Daimyo. "The Uzumaki were a fearsome clan in their day!" Like many from his country, he looked to be a dwarf. Except instead of being rotund, he was packed with muscle.

"And Rich too. The Uzumaki clan were able to use their seals to do almost anything, including boosting what their island had already to tremendous, and nigh limitless, amounts. Were you never informed of the Uzumaki clan?" explained the Lightning Daimyo, before asking his question. The Lightning Daimyo was a dark skinned man that had devious, but exuberant, eyes. He had a wiry frame, but seemed to know how to fight well.

"No, I hadn't even known the Uzumaki were a clan before today. I thank you for telling me though. I suppose I will have to look into it soon, preferably when the Hokage isn't looking. Where is Uzu no Kuni at, exactly?"

"Off the coast of what is now Wave Country. Barely a days travel by boat!" exclaimed the Wind Daimyo, a slender woman who could catch many an eye. Naruto had learned she was rather easy going, if foolish. Her crush on the Fire Daimyo was hurting her own country, something Naruto had moved to stop by asking her to look after her country instead. Subtly pointing out that doing so may make the fire daimyo look at her as someone more competent, instead of simple minded toy, might earn more of his affection.

"I may have to get a mission to wave sometime soon then. I'll be looking into it. I should also try to look into what I can find on the Uzumaki here in Konoha. All I know about the clan is that they were great allies of the leaf. And that they were apparently wiped out completely." As Naruto stood to leave, Kin followed suite. He bowed to each of the Daimyo in turn, before leaving the section of the stands for the fighter box.

The daimyo were pleased to have talked to the boy, and were confident that they were not in danger of becoming his ally anytime soon. They remembered what the Uzumaki clan had been like, and were completely willing to form a six way alliance if it meant getting a part of that wealth. The technology that could be invented through that countries resources would be fascinating, and would likely help their people survive for centuries to come. They would wait as long as needed in order to get access to that. Anything, for their people.

Sasuke was not having a good time. That much was clear to the jounin watching. Kakashi, for once, stared at the match completely lost. His book, held limply in his hand, was completely forgotten in favor of watching his student fight. Or rather, get thrown around. Sasuke couldn't even land a hit.

"I... I don't understand. Why isn't that sand nin dead by now?" Kakashi stuttered. His voice was kept low, almost a whisper, but the other jounin heard him. Gai frowned, disappointed in his rivals behavior. Asuma silently agreed with Kakashi. Sasuke was, after all, their strongest genin. Even if the Sand nin was a jinchuuriki, he shouldn't have been alive this long.

Kurenai and Anko however, laughed outright. They could see plainly why Sasuke was losing so badly, and therefor, why Gaara was still alive. Sasuke was a close range to mid fighter, while Gaara was a Long range to Mid range fighter. Gaara was also capable of both attacking and defending at the same time, leaving the prodigy Uchiha with no grounds in which to strike back.

Oh, Sasuke did try, usually via Fireball, but it was all pointless. Gaara's Sand Shield prevented him from coming to harm through such flimsy attacks. The Fireballs were now so weak, they didn't even melt his sand. Of course, Sasuke never noticed this, as he had to keep focusing on dodging the sand that was trying to trap him again. He never noticed that he was being led into a trap, but a few ninja in the audience doubted the Uchiha would even have the intelligence to care.

While all of this was going on, nobody but Orochimaru in his disguise noticed the Sandaime's gaze. It was focused completely on Gaara, processing how he was able to use his sand, and how he was using it. After all, he needed that information to be able to use his new power. Orochimaru only recognized that the Sandaime was studying Gaara intently, but not what the old mans actual thoughts were.

The Sandaime had taken a break during the month to go and take the power Gaara held covertly. It wasn't exactly easy, as the boy apparently never slept, but he had been able to do it. He had done so by taking Gaara's chakra and placing it into his special seal. Doing so allowed the seal to break down everything about Gaara, and replicate Gaara's ability. However, the Sandaime had come to learn that while he could now manipulate sand, he couldn't do so on a wide scale. Not like Gaara could. Nor did he have the automatic defense that Gaara seemed to have. This troubled the old man, but he didn't let it show. He would figure out Gaara's secret in due time after all. He the professor and God of Shinobi.

Or, at least, the Sandaime thought nobody noticed. But the Daimyo all had. They'd noticed his look, and could see the greed in the man's eyes. They dismissed it however, not considering it important at the time. They would, eventually, come to regret such a decision.

Sasuke was getting annoyed. Why wasn't this peasant dying? Didn't he realize he was against an Uchiha? Sasuke of course, knew that Gaara was a jinchuuriki, and knew it was the Ichibi that the boy contained. But for some reason, the boy refused to bow down before his Sharingan and accept Sasuke's godhood. Had Kakashi lied to him, or simply been mistaken?

Sasuke quickly shook these thoughts out of his head as he leapt up and back, avoiding a dangerous tendril of sand that had tried to grab his ankle. However, he found himself suddenly surrounded by sand on all sides the moment he landed. This made him raise an eyebrow. Did the demon really think that he, an Uchiha, was mortal?

Sasuke quickly flipped through the handseals for his favorite jutsu, pouring as much of his chakra in to as he could. The fireball was massive, and quickly melted all of the sand. This left Sasuke to use a soldier pill and a quick earth jutsu. Of course, he annoyed himself at having to announce it aloud.

"Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu!" The Earth Style: Hiding like a mole technique was quick enough to bury him beneath the earth before the rest of Gaara's offensive sand struck from above. Of course, Gaara did try to use the sand underground to solve that problem, but Sasuke burst up from underneath him with a rising kick. This bypassed his shield, and sent him into the air. Sasuke followed up with another fireball, but Gaara's sand armor saved his life. Gaara decided to show something knew, and gathered sand to him rapidly.

Sasuke moved away quickly, fearing retaliation. But when he turned around, Gaara stood atop a pillar of sand, several feet of the ground. Gaara looked down on Sasuke from above with a cold and passive look on his face. Sasuke was barely entertaining! This expression caused Sasuke to do something foolish, and lose his temper. He quickly flipped through some more handseals, once again preparing a fire jutsu. But, instead of a fire ball, this was more like a meteor. Sasuke had shoved his entire chakra pool into the jutsu, knocking himself out and nearly killing himself. Gaara raised the sand he had left up, burying the meteor like fireball in large amounts of sand, extinguishing it. Before he could crush the Uchiha however, the proctor intervened.

"Winner by forfeit, Sasuke Uchiha!" He bellowed out, smirking in the process. He quickly grabbed Sasuke and teleported to the medic bay. Of course, the announcement alone was enough to make the audience cheer. Well, almost the entire audience anyway. There were a select few that didn't. However, before Gaara could go to hunt down the backstabbing Konoha nin of a proctor, feathers started falling from the sky. He quickly moved to his siblings, signaling them to follow him so they could cover him while he securely transformed. He moved towards the forests, all three sand nin moving at rapid rates.

Kakashi assigned Naruto and Sakura to go after them, giving direct orders to Naruto to let his better team mate, Sakura, do the fighting. Naruto's orders were to retreat when the going got tough, as Kakashi didn't want him getting in the way. Naruto silently scoffed and he moved to follow the sand nin.

Few noticed the barrier erect as the invasion began in earnest. However, where Orochimaru was expecting the Sandaime to be slightly panicked or nervous, maybe even angry, the Sandaime was instead smirking. This wasn't a smirk of arrogance or malice though. No, this was a smirk that said 'I know something you don't!'. Orochimaru hated this smirk, and as a consequence, lost his temper. He engaged the Sandaime in rapid combat.

The invasion had begun alright, but nobody expected the consequence of it. Well, nobody except the invaders. And even then, they doubted on some level that it would happen at all.

**This was fun to write. Battle is where I feel comfortable at, and having Sasuke thrown into shit makes me so much more happier. I feel a lot better now! This is where the story begins in earnest though, I think. Bear in mind that for this story, Danzo is a little different. He does possess his fanaticism**, **but he also knows who owns Konoha. He knows his place, and will do whatever is in his power from that place to ensure Konoha survives. **


End file.
